Ethnopharmacology of Medicinal Plants used in North Kordofan (Western Sudan)

HatilHashim EL-Kamali

Department of Botany, Faculty of
Science & Technology,

Omdurman Islamic
University, P.O Box # 382, Omdurman

Issued 30 January
2009

Abstract

Urban and
rural people of North Kordofan (Western
Sudan) inherited a rich traditional medicinal knowledge. The
preservation and documentation of this knowledge is a matter of prime
importance. This will not only provide recognition of this knowledge but will
also help in conservation of such gradually vanishing endangered semi/arid
plant species.

The present
paper provide ethnopharmacological information of

48 taxa distributed into 26 families. For each plant species
listed, the botanical name, family, vernacular name, part used, uses/ailments
treated, preparations/administrations, use (%) and locality are given.

Among the
major findings: Acacia niloticassp. nilotica as
hypertensive; Balanitesaegyptiaca for diabetes; Ceibapentandra for relieve toothache; Geigeriaalata
for diabetes, cough, intestinal complaints and as antispasmodic; Guierasenegalensis
for jaundice; Hibiscus sabdariffa in cases
of hematuria and Justaciaflava smeared on gingiva
in cases of teeth pain.

Introduction

Plants have
always played a major role in the treatment of human traumas and diseases
worldwide [1]. They have been used as sources of modern drugs, either by
providing pure compounds, starting materials for partial synthesis of useful
compounds or models for synthesis of new drugs [2]. Ethnopharmacological
information is an important tool in drug discovery [3].

From the ethnobotanical point of view North Kordofan is one of the least studied regions
of Western
Sudan. The only work existing for a few areas of this region is
compiled by EL-Ghazaliet al., 1997 [4].

Information
about medicinal plants is still passing from one generation to another by
oral communication, posing the danger of loosing some knowledge. There is,
therefore, a need to document medicinal plants in Sudan before both
the provider of information disappear. Meanwhile most of these plants was already endangered by the arid/semi arid climatic
conditions and man-made activities.

Population

From the ethnobotanical point of view, North Kordofan is an interesting region, since in
ancient times. It was subject to the cultures of several people such as Arabs
and Africans. Agricultural (millet, sorghum, groundnuts and sesame), pastoral
(cattle and goats) activities characterize the way of life of the people in
the region. Ethnically, population composition in the region can be
classified as nomadic and sedentary tribes. The major groups are all Arabs
and include Kababish, Kawahla,
Hamr, Hawawir and the Maganin tribes. The sedentary groups, which also are
mainly Arab, include Dar Hamid, Danagla,
Gawamaa and Bedaireia. A
few sedentary tribes are non-Arab; they are mainly of Hausa and Fulani origin
and have come from West Africa [6].

Methodology

Fieldwork:

The study was
conducted during June - September 2003 in five localities, namely, Tendalti, Umm Rawaba, Er-Rahad, EL-Obeid and Bara (North Kordofan, Western
Sudan).

The
information was gathered from urban and rural inhabitants knowledgeable on
indigenous herbal medicine by personal interviews (56 interviewees).
Questions about the use of various medicinal plants were asked using
classical means of ethnobotanical analysis [7],
[8]. The interviews were in the form of group discussions, in groups of three
or four people, except for the traditional healers who preferred confidentiality.

Plant
materials of all the taxa reported were collected
either by author and shown to the informants, or by the informants and shown
to us or by the informants, or by us together. During fieldwork plant
materials were collected for preparation of herbarium specimens and for
biological and chemical testing. The plants were identified using the
Flowering Plants of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan [9-11] and the Flora of the Sudan [12] and
also by comparison with herbarium specimens in the Botany Department, KhartoumUniversity, Faculty of Science. Voucher specimens were deposited in
the Botany Department, Omdurman Islamic University.

Data
Analysis:

All the data
obtained have been integrated and analyzed. The results have been structured
according to these categories: number of plants mentioned (with scientific
Latin name, botanical familes and vernacular
(popular) names; part used; uses/ailments treated;
preparations/administrations; use frequency (%) and localities.

To assess the
degree of originality and novelty of the uses claimed by the informants,
these were compared with those reported in several works on ethnobotany,
medicinal plants and phytotherapy. The complete
references were given in Farnsworth, 1995 [13]. Study of quantitative
ethnobotany was also performed, the use frequency per species was estimated
by calculating the proportion of plants cited and utilized in relation to the
total number of interviewees.

Discussion:

The data
recorded during this study were compared with the related literature and also
published reports on the traditional medicinal uses of the plants. Some
species, namely, Abutilon panosum, Blepharislinariifolia,
Cassia absus, Doberaglabra, Justiciaflava, Ethuliaconyzoides, Xeromphisnilotica, Tinosporabakis and Strigahermonthica have never been described in the ethnobotanical literature of Sudan. For other
species, namely, Acacia niloticassp. nilotica, Cissusquadrangularis,
Geigeriaalata,
Hibiscus sabdariffaand Ziziphusspins-christi,
new therapeutic uses have been reported.

�Some papers reporting phytochemistry
of the following species: Acacia niloticassp. nilotica, Cassia
absus, Cassia tora,
Guierasenegalensis,
Cinchona officinalis, Cissampelospareira and Cocculuspendulus have been published [12]. The pharmacological
studies on Croton zambesicus fruits, Geigeriaalata
aerial parts are probably lacking and investigations in this direction are
also greatly needed. C. zambesicus
extracts from leaves cytotoxic and from stem bark
antimicrobial [14]. Albizziaanthelmintica extracts have been studied in some
pharmacological studies, and anthelmintic activity
[15-17] has been demonstrated. Further research on Guierasenegalensis will reveal its medicinal
potential and facilitate its use as a standardized herbal drug.

�In the drug development research, biological
activity based on ethnomedical uses seems as a
better approach compared to randomly selected plants [18 & 19]. We are
currently testing these plants for some biological activities to confirm the therapeutical claims indicated by informants. Any useful
information from literature review and biological tests will be passed back
in order to improve the proper use of medicinal plants and create a good
relationship for future ethnobotanical studies.

The reasons
for the frequent use of traditional medicine being (i)
the strong association of people with local flora and their belief on
traditional knowledge regarding plants as medicine, (ii) easy availability of
local medicinal plants, (iii) relatively poor access to synthetic drugs and
their high cost and (iv) lower economic profile of the people.

The data
provided by our informants and analyzed in the present paper clearly show
that folk knowledge on medicinal plants and plant uses is still alive in the
studied region. This indicates that ethnobotanical
studies constitute a valuable first step in the bioprospection
process, which may lead to the development of new plant-based medicines by phytotherapeutical research.

Conclusion

Modern health
care services provided in North Kordofan region are
not adequate, since the health care centres/hospitals
are few and sometimes distantly located, and most people cannot afford to buy
drugs prescribed due their low income. Herbal medicine keeps working as the
most popular medicine in solving health problems in the region, and people
have strong trust in the efficacy of herbs. Due to limited resources, only
five localities were visited and it was noted that some plants were not
readily available due to season conditions during the study period. It was
recommended that future work in this region should be carried out immediately
after the rainy season for one to be able to record a large number of
medicinally useful plants, especially the annual herbs. Teamwork consisting
of a good number of taxonomists is recommended for any future ethnobotanical surveys, in order to have broad scope of
study leading to a rich documentation of medicinal plants in this region.

Acknowledgement

The author is very
grateful to the people and herbalists of North Kordofan region for sharing their knowledge on
traditional herbal medicine.

[13] Farnsworth,N.R. ed. NAPRALERT
database. Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, March 15, 1995 Production (an on-line
database available directly through the University of Illinois at Chicago or through
the scientific and Technical Network (STN) of Cemical Abstracts Services).